The Passing Shade

Sentinel Fanfiction
Title:	The Passing Shade
Author(s):	Charlotte Frost
Date(s):	19 August 2003
Length:	195k, 90pgs
Genre:	gen, h/c
Fandom:	The Sentinel
External Links:	online here
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The Passing Shade is a Sentinel story by Charlotte Frost.

It has a slash sequel: Cup Runneth Over.

Summary: "While Blair recovers from a car accident, he and Jim each confront events from their pasts."

Author's Comments

What I feel to be my best-written TS story. I had been doing a series of “episode previews” for newby fans, when the series was still being aired on the Scifi channel, and the previews kept getting longer and longer and more and more analytical. I was particularly intrigued by the idea of Blair’s thesis being the villain, so to speak, over the course of the TS series. The thesis was the elephant in the room rarely spoken of by Jim and Blair; and yet, it was a source of tremendous insecurity for them both. Ultimately, it’s what causes all the discontent between them. So, after being so focused on the episodes, and particularly on the thread of the thesis that runs through them, I wanted to “do” something more with all my mental meanderings.

The initial “waking up in the hospital” scene was something I had already written, and then let sit until I could figure out where to go with it. Once I hit upon the idea of an AU ending to the thesis thread in the series, and combining that with my fascination with Blair having grown up without knowing his biological father… “The Passing Shade” ended up being probably my most tightly written story. I liked the idea of having the recovery from the car crash as a backdrop for the story, without the plot itself being about Blair’s recovery.

As far as the Carolyn subplot, I once saw somebody remark that I’d taken, “one little mention” in the series and make a full-blown story out of it. Actually, I think the idea of Carolyn being an addicted gambler comes from more than a single passing comment:

1. In the TS pilot, Carolyn bets with Simon on the outcome of the Jags game. 2. In the very next episode, Carolyn loses her bet with Jim about whether her sister was going to go through with the wedding. 3. In the third episode, Jim tells date Beverly that Carolyn didn’t like the loft because “It’s too quiet”; ie, she seems to be a person who wants more excitement in her non-working hours. 4. Also in the third episode, Carolyn shows Jim a letter from the IRS, saying she and Jim owe $4,000 in back taxes. (I swear, they are the two calmest people imaginable about getting such a letter!) One easy way to underpay one’s taxes is to conveniently forget about large gambling winnings. In the U.S., if you cash a bet over a certain amount (at odds of 600-1 or higher is one criteria), you have to fill out a form at the payoff window acknowledging your winnings, and a copy of the form is sent by the track (or whoever) to the IRS. So, if one doesn’t report the winnings from the form on their tax return after the end of the year, they get a nice little letter form the IRS telling them to pay up. (I speak from experience.)

Not one of those things --- or even combined – makes Carolyn an addicted gambler. But it certainly makes the idea a viable possibility.

Anyway, I’m really proud of just about everything in “The Passing Shade”. I like it as h/c, I like it as angst, I like it as a Blair background story, and I like it as a Jim (recent) background story. My favorite part is when Jim is mad at Blair and has left the loft. I like the thought processes he goes through while he’s driving down the highway. It think it’s pretty realistic – and rather amusing – in depicting how people grumble and rationalize to themselves when they’re alone and stewing.

I thought I hit a home run with “The Passing Shade”. Therefore, of course, the minimal response to it and its sequel was disappointing. (If you look up fanfic author in the dictionary, one of the definitions is, “In a perpetual state of disappointment, due to a lack of recognition for one’s self-perceived brilliance.” ;-> ) Though of course, by modern standards, any feedback at all would have to be considered “a lot”.

Reactions and Reviews

[comments regarding both stories]: After Blair is in a car accident and some subsequent shocking revelations from Naomi, Jim and Blair start reevaluating their lives.

I waffled on this one for a while, mainly because there is not a single positive representation of women in this fic. It's not quite woman bashing but it's really close to it, so if that is something you're sensitive to you'll probably want to steer clear. What redeems this story (because I am very sensitive to woman bashing) is the way Charlotte Frost manages to combine slice of life writing with some very incisive and interesting looks at gender roles.

The writing is practical and very down to earth, which allows for Charlotte to explore some thorny issues about Naomi's child rearing choices in a thought provoking way. In the hands of a less pragmatic or capable author, those decisions would have undoubtedly been inflated into extreme child abuse. Instead, it's up to the reader to decide if Naomi's decisions were good ones or bad (and an argument could be made for either side).

Even more interesting to me is her clever exploration of gender roles (a kink of mine that is rarely satisfied in fanfic). Because both characters are male, it's possible to step back from societal expectations and to really think about what it means to be a 'housewife' or to be the more caring partner or to be submissive in bed. In the western world all three of those characteristics are usually assumed to be the role of the woman, but without a woman in the relationship it becomes obvious how silly and flawed that assumption is.

It's rare to find a fanfic that does more than entertain, but instead makes you think. While these aren't perfect stories, they are at times insightful, consistently thought-provoking, and always interesting. A good choice for anyone who likes a little social commentary in their fic.